Tjaart van der Walt wrote:

> After lurking for a few days, I've decided to join
> the ranks of others. This list has really gone to
> the dogs. Perhaps it will improve later, but somehow
> I doubt it.

                                    ^  ^ Our choice:

I find it alarming that many of those whose posts I find most
interesting have recently unsubscribed.

While the trend is apparently partially due to low PIC content, my
belief is that the real reasons are as follows:

1) technical content is persistantly low.
2) cow tipping and other humourous content (non PIC) has gradually been
*replaced* with more senseless bickering, often due to PIClist
subscribers who are bored and have nothing more interesting to do than
subject the (currently) very large readership to extremist views
generally known to be controversial on the PIC list.
3) due the the long establishment of the PIClist, many longer term
subscribers have become highly competant at PIC related matters, these
people have much usefull advice for newbies and is is common now to see
a dozen replies of which a majority are even usefull.   Thus for the
longer term subscribers, the PIClist has become rather monotonous.

The answer ?
SELF DISCIPLINE (not of the corporal kind)

1) If you are new, read the f_____g manual (RTFM) or Microchip CD, this
will educate you and hopefully reduce the mail in everybody's mailbox by
maybe 12 replys. (x 1800 or so recipients = 21,600)
2) If you are on some kind of a Religious high and you wish to pass it
on:    don't, the PIClist has fellow Religious people, but it also has
an unusually high proportion of Athiests.  While religion is usually
taught, there are very few (if any) churches of Athiesm, these people
think for themselves.   The resulting proliferation of emails (WHICH
PASS TO EVERYBODY !) will upset many people, both for and against
whichever view you hold.   This wastes nearly everybody's time and
achieves very little except to promote: Antagonism.    (the religion of
war)
3) Everybody is part of a minority group, we naturally form "in groups"
and "out groups" due to our earlier evolution revolving around "tribes"
of smaller numbers.   War of any kind (including public email
1-upmanship) is impolite.   Many on this list are far more skilled
technically than socially and what might seem to you to be an innocous
or very clever comment may be viewed as a bitter insult to others.
4) Understand the use of [OT], if you have a non PIC related matter (or
reply) then add [OT] to the subject line.   If you see [OT] in the
subject line of another's mail then please *do not* reply regarding it's
suitability for the PIClist, this swells everybody's mails.   Instead
you may investigate setting up"filters" on your own mail browser
(netscape etc). Remember, it should be your personal choice over which
messages are important, and which messages shoud be deleted.
5) The send button is very easy to operate, BUT remember: once sent
"Undo" will not work.
6) Other people also forget the above.
7) Check the other replies first, you may be repeating an answer that
has already been posted.
8) Cut out all non relavent sections of original mail if replying, one
poster to this list sends interesting replies but mostly I ignore them
because they are at the bottom of several pages of repeated quotes !
9) Wouldn't it be nice to have a *small* number of more useful messages,
and a few personally addressed replys next time you open PIClist related
mail ?

If you got this far, then you are probably capable of RTFM, ROTFL,
swallowing bitter pills and leaping over tall buildings in a single
bound.   For the others ? I may yet unsubscribble.
regards,
Graham Daniel. NYECTP           (not yet even close to perfect.)